Saturday, April 26, 2008

Ritch outruns Bayne, rain in Hooters Pro Cup Concord win

Ritch outruns Bayne, rain in Concord win Concord, N.C.—When rain halted the Racing Electronics 250 presented by BTS Tire & Wheel Distributors at Concord Motorsports Park, Michael Ritch was in the right place. But it may not have mattered. Ritch marched through the pack after making an early stop and was out front when the rains put an end to the event on Lap 206. “I was pretty upset with our strategy when we came in on Lap 60,” said Ritch, driver of the No. 28s Racing For Veterans Ford. “But in the end, I think it was the right move. I think I could’ve held them off even if it went the distance.” Ritch’s win was his second in a row and puts him in the Greased Lightning Southern Division point lead. While Ritch and most of the other leaders pitting in the first 75 laps, Wade Day kept his No. 96s Lopez Wealth Management Ford out front for the majority of the first half of the event. Day, who started from the Awesome Awnings Pole, led all but seven of the first 150 circuits. But Day’s gamble that the rain would come earlier didn’t pay off before he pitted on Lap 151. “We probably would’ve pitted 40 laps earlier had the rain not been all around us,” said Day, who made it back to sixth at the finish. “I could see the lightning while I was going down the backstretch and it was all around us, but it didn’t rain when I needed it.” Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 29s Chevy Racing Chevrolet, was on the same pit strategy as Michael Ritch and made it back to second at the finish. Carl Long, driver of the No. 12s Romeo Guest Construction Ford, gambled that the rain would hit before the conclusion of the event and picked up a third-place finish by not coming in for fuel. Clay Rogers, driver of the No. 51s Fire Protection Services/Killingworth Environmental Chevrolet, rounded out the top five in his first start of the season. Rogers also led seven laps in his first Pro Cup race in nearly a year. Frank Deiny, Kirk Leone, Billy Bigley and J.P. Morgan completed the top 10. Drew Herring picked up the Miller Lite Rookie of the Race for his 11th-place finish. Unofficial Results 1. Michael Ritch 2. Trevor Bayne 3. Carl Long 4. Mark McFarland 5. Clay Rogers 6. Wade Day 7. Frank Deiny Jr. 8. Kirk Leone 9. Billy Bigley 10. J.P. Morgan 11. Drew Herring 12. Matt Lofton 13. Dusty Williams 14. Joey Coulter 15. Tom Hessert 16. Bobby Gill 17. Woody Howard 18. Don Satterfield 19. Hunter Robbins 20. James Buescher 21. Larry Barrett 22. Bryan Silas 23. John Gibson 24. Lucas Ransome 25. Mark Whitaker 26. Caleb Holman 27. Travis Kittleson 28. Matt Hawkins 29. Travis Miller 30. Mike Held

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